Tenancy Laws?

M.,
I am not a Lawyer, but I know a company called Pre-Paid Legal that will give you the ability to call a lawyer for any matter for as little as $17 a month. (That $17 - gets you more than just advice, but they can explain) it is a month to month type thing so it is easy to try it out without any commitment.
Here is a website that can explain.
www.prepaidlegal.com/hub/ryandouglas
On a personal note,
It doesn't sound fair what you are going through, but fair and what they are legaly allowed to do is usually not the same.

I have been a property manager for 10 years in the state of Oregon. Laws vary from state to stae so be careful not to heed anyones advice who is just guessing - especially from another state.

Your landlord may or may not be in the right. Read your lease. It will spell out exactly what you are required to do in order to have a pet in your household. Do you follow the lease? In Oregon there is a landlord/tenant hotline where you can get free information. Check your blue pages of your phone book, do a search on line, or call information. I'm sure your state has one too. There's also Legal Aid here in Oregon and your state might have one too. This is also free information.

If I were you I would talk to the landlord and ask if you could pay the rent, etc. and not the pet deposit. Have your checkbook in hand ready to write a check. Tell her/him what you know about the pet deposit (after having called and found out the legalities). Even if it is not in your favor. The best thing is to leave out emotions and keep your anger in check. If you found out that the landlord is right, you can ask to have the deposit waived based on length of tenancy. If there is no way that they are willing to waive the deposit and you don't have the money, ask for a payment arragement starting by putting $25 towards it that day. Then stick to the arrangement.

Without knowing all the facts, I cannot tell if the landlord is being unreasonable or not. Your lease will answer that for you. Regardless of your lease, your landlord is a person and every person responds well to open communication without blaming.

If I were the landlord at your property, I would be VERY open to receiving what is owed (rent, etc.) short the pet fee/deposit. But, it would require a conversation with you and an understanding of where you are coming from. If I could see that you know you are responsible for what is owed and would not fight me on it, I would be more apt to make arrangements for any other monies owing. Rent is very important to collect. Landlords must delcare all monies owing on legal documents sent to you so that IF they need to take you to court they can ask the judge for what is owed.

any time a new management company steps in, they can change whatever they want. its very unfair, but they have the right. if you really believe this isn't right, i would suggest calling human services, they can point you in the right direction. i have had to call them myself in the past and they always helped me get to the right person so i could get the info i needed.

Do you have a copy of the lease paperwork when you moved in? Do you have to renew your lease yearly, monthly, etc.? If you renewed your lease within the time she has been there and she did not require a pet deposit then then you are fine until your lease runs out. When you have to renew your lease, the landlord can require a pet deposit because it is just like moving into a new place with a new lease. This is my advice to you.

A lot depends on the state and local jurisdiction in which you live, but in general, if you weren't required to have a pet deposit as of the last lease that you signed, you should be grandfathered in until you are required to sign a new lease. The new owner should be honoring your old lease agreement.

Two weeks is somewhat short notice for these types of charges. 30 days is a bit more reasonable. If you are in a position where you are required to pay a pet deposit, try renegotiating with your landlord as to when the deposit should be due.

However, if you would have been required to pay a pet deposit under the old lease terms if you had had a pet at that time you signed the lease, you'll need to pay up now that you're a pet owner.

At least you don't have to worry about "pet rent" on top of all of this.

Good luck!

Yes, there are many sorts of tenancy laws.

Your landlord is required to renew your lease that states a pet deposit will be applicable.

Take a look at your current lease paperworks, and you will be surprised to see all the fine prints between all these lines:

If it doesn't state an applicable pet deposit, make a copy of that, then point it out to your current landlord through the management. If they invite you to court, you can talk with your court-appointed lawyer when you strongly believe that there is NOT an applicable pet deposit. Then you're not at risk.

If it does state an applicable pet deposit, you pay.

I hope you'll be fine in the long run, hang in there.

M.: Laws vary state to state. You should be able to go to your local courthouse and find out what your rights are...Landlords are usually allowed to come into a new ownership and ask for new contracts, rules, etc..depending on what the purchase agreement was between your past landlord.

The time lapse may be just lawyer issues. It can take a very long time to pull new contracts together. Talk to your new management company and see if something else could be arranged. Just let them know that you can see their position and realise that each owner has the oportunity to adjust their regulations...howver, you've been a valued tenent and are asking that they contact the new owner to see if she can make an exception for the current animals.blah, blah (catch flies with honey)
Good luck-Hooly

Well, I am definitely not a lawyer, so please take what i have to say with a whole lot of salt!

Do you have a lease? It's my understanding that when a property is sold, the new owners have to follow the terms of the old lease. If the old lease doesn't say anything about pets or a pet deposit, they can't add that in at this point. What does your lease say about pets? When you got your cats, did you get written permission from your original landlord?

If you are living month to month (in other words, if your lease has expired, and you've just been paying monthly rent), I'm afraid they are well within their rights to do whatever they want when it comes to pet deposits and such. In fact, if you don't have a lease, they can legally give you 30 days notice to vacate the property for no reason at all! (obviously, it couldn't be a discrimination issue, but that's a different kettle of fish) At least, that's my understanding.

Without knowing exactly what the terms are of your lease, it's hard to know exactly what your rights are. Here's some helpful links for you though:

http://www.hud.gov/local/ut/renting/tenantrights.cfm
http://www.utcourts.gov/howto/landlord/
http://www.andjusticeforall.org/uls/services.html

Best of luck to you. I hope you can work it out smoothly.

I tottally understand where your comming from on this but you have to admitt that this is not your property and she is just protecting herself from pet damages such as torn carpets from the cats sreatching themselves also accidents and pet dander also she has to have it on file that ou had pets just in case the next renters are alergic and they sue her for not replacing the carpets. I pertty sure it's required by the state becuase of that. If you have more questions you can always ask the new management to explain it to you that's there job. they have to disclose the reasons for there actions and also what you are signing has to be explained in full if you ask that is.

hi-

I had some problems when my rental property changed landlords in Wisconsin. After that experience, I've decided that I'll just move if my rental property changes owner.

Did they ask you to sign a new lease? the terms should be in that lease- if they didn't, I don't see why you should pay anything.

last, now is a really good time to reassess any damages in your home. our new landlord told us not to clean the carpet because he was going to replace it after we left- then he proceeded to charge us for the new carpet. If there's anything pre-existing wrong with your place, make sure the landlord agrees with it now.

Hello M.~
Ugh how frustrating. Just do a search on the web for landlord/tenant laws. You can all kinds of information.

Good Luck!!!!